Piece by Piece
by N.J.Al
Summary: Desmond Miles finds himself abducted by people who claim he has information they needed. Little did he know his capture was only the part of an ancient arms race between two equally old groups. Sort of AU, more warnings inside.
1. Prologue

[Edit]: I just realized how bad the writing was, so I fixed it. It's just me or this site eat some of your words? Meh, I'm probably going crazy...I'll be editing the next chapters too, sorry for that, I fell really pathetic right now...

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**First, some considerations:**

**-This is an AU. It does not follow Assassin's Creed 2 storyline. In this universe, the Assassins aren't as weak and diminished as in the actual game. They are big, they are numerous, and ,most importantly, they are active. Every major country(US, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Japan...) has it's own Headquarters.**

**-The Apple's function is a little bit different. It doesn't show the location of every single Piece of Eden in the world. More will be explained further in the story.**

**-In Abstergo, Desmond didn't relieve Altair's life(as he did in AC). Warren searched multiple ancestors for different informations, not a specific one.**

**-This fiction is not Lucy/Desmond. It will have pairings, yes, but they are not the core of the story. There will be also slash. I hope that's not a problem. If it is, well, too bad.**

**-Since AC is a Mature game by itself, there will be plety of Fuck!'s and Shit!'s, so don't be surprised.**

**-As much as I dislike OC's(I said _dislike_, not hate or disgusted by, just dislike.) I feel the need to create a few ones for the sake of the plot.**

**-I guess that's pretty much it for now, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Please Review. I'm not a attention whore, but I really need to know how I'm writing.**

**P.S:I'm looking for a BETA reader, for English is not my first language and I tend to make mistakes(OpenOffice is beating the crap out of me...so much red.).Someone would like to help?**

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_**Piece by Piece**_

_**-Prologue-**_

_**Daring Scape**_

"Hurry up Desmond!Get in the car!" the woman shout as she shot a few more times at the building mass of uniformed men in the parking lot's entrance.

Since the day he met her, Desmond had never seen Lucy Stillman acting so aggressively. It was almost out-of-character. The usual composed and professional attitude had vanished as she burts through the doors of his room and dragged him through the halls of Abstergo Industries in a desperate run. They had bumped into some security in the way out, which Lucy swiftly took care of, and now tried to reach for a black Mercedes CLS near the exit hat. Desmond literally slid across the car's hood and opened the door of the passenger's side of the vehicle. Lucy came soon after, throwing the gun to Desmond and starting the engine. She reached for a small device on the glove compartment and pressed one of the buttons. The gate begun to open ever-so-slowly and more bullets flew across the air. One of them happened hit the windshield making Desmond yelp.

"Holy shit!" he swore "is this car bullet-proof?"

"More like bullet-proof_-ish_. You can lony equip your car so much before people start to notice." upon hearing the purr from the engine, Lucy stepped heavily on the gas pedal before the gate was fully opened.

"What are you d-... " too late. The car shot straight forward, hitting against both ends of the opening gate. The harsh contact generated sparks and ruined the car's paint as Lucy sped up.

Desmond had both hands reaching for the seatbelt and almost screaming another few swearing when Lucy decided to make a sharp turn he didn't see coming at all. Now, he had his face against the window and a seatbelt trying to choke him. Fixing himself, he had little time to see what was on the road before the car hit something. Some guard had the stupid idea of jumping in the way and shoot against the windshield. Lucy did not flinch nor slowed down, in fact, she sped even more, throwing the man out of the way.

"Are you _crazy_?"

"Want to go back and help?" she asked sarcastically. A quick look in th mirror proved there was nothing left to help, the guards body rested against the pavement, unmoving.

"No." he answered bitterly.

"Look Desmond, those men would have killed you if they had the chance, or even worst, brought you back to Warren. Don't feel guilty about this."

Desmond looked away from the mirror and focused on the road a while Lucy noticed the sudden silence and tried to star a conversation.

"So, got something to ask?" She looked franticly from the road to a small GPS positioned on the car's dashboard.

"Plenty." he answered, still upset.

"We have a lot of free time. Our next stop is a few hours away." she kept the pattern of shifting her eyes from the road to the GPS, from the road to the GPS, from the road...

"Can't they track us through that?" the almost obsessive compulsive movement was starting to annoy Desmond. He had started to tap with his feet against the car's floor.

"That's why we are changing vehicles." She pointed to the end of the road, where a plain white van was parked discreetly near a street light. " We are not riding _this_ to the hideout."

Lucy parked the car in a nearby alley and left the keys on the door, She wouldn't drive that car ever again , why bother if someone stole it? Maybe it would make them track some thief instead of them! Smiling at the grim thought she left the dark and dirty alley, joining Desmond in the van. Said man was amazed by the contents of the vehicle. Lucy sure had planned their escapade, supplying the van with food, water, two blankets, pillows and even a thermos with steaming hot black coffee which, according to Lucy, she would need for the trip. Lucy turned a full cup of the black beverage in three large gulps and started the car.

Now they were on the road and , presumably, safe, Desmond allowed himself to relax. He hadn't notice how comfortable the seat was, in contrast with the cold and hard metal plate he was forced to lay on during his stay in_ Abstergo's __bed and breakfast_...Turning his head, he watched as his savior drove nearly unblinking along the dark road. The coffee mug had kicked in and Lucy looked as awake as a owl. He meant to speak something but she beaten him to it.

"Something on your mind?"

"Yes." He took a moment to choose his words and then spoke again. "_Why?_"

"Why, what Desmond?" she replied.

"All of this!" he hestured, waving his arms "One minute you are helping that Doc Eggman wannabe to rape my brain in search for something _I_ don't even know, and in the other you are breaking the necks of countless guards to take me away from him!So Lucy, _why_?"

Lucy held the wheel harder, taking a deep breath.

"Ok. Let's start from the beginning..."

_And so Lucy begun the tale, _

_This madness started three weeks ago. During one of his many odd jobs, Desmond was abducted by a group of people claiming they new who he was and wanted information. Logically, he denied and hoped to be left alone. No such thing, though. He was knocked out and by the time he awoke, he was in an insanely white room with an old and fat man, plus his pair of pet gorillas. He begun to interrogate him about some nonsense about "Pieces of Eden", stuff Desmond truly didn't know shit about, but the man didn't relent. He then begun this weird Sci crap about birds and genes, who someone with barely any education like him didn't understand at all, and dragged him for something that looked like had been taken from a Stargate(or would it be Track?) movie set. He soon was kindly tossed over the metal plate and his lovely assistant, a pretty, blond woman, begun pressing buttons. His vision faded into a white space where he couldn't see a thing. He was disoriented for a while, but a feminine voice helped him focus. He was instructed by some kind of tutorial-thingy how to move and act in said white space, he just didn't know what for. _

_The old-man's voice came back a few minutes later as he added further instruction. According to him, he belonged tho the Assassin's bloodline(no shit Sherlock.) thus, allowing him to reach for information through the machine he was currently attached to. He tried to reason the man, saying he held no information, but the other just laughed. He agreed with him, Desmond really didn't know a thing. But his ancestors did. Vidic, the doctor's last-name, explained he would use the machine to run through his ancestors memories for a variety of topics, such as hideout locations, their secrets and even the identity of other assassins. Needless to say it made Desmond's blood run cold. When he ran away from The Farm, he had made sure to bring no harm to the The Order with his scape, cutting every string that attached himself to the themr. But the work proved to be futile since he was now on enemy territory, as a hostage, and about to be lobotomized for secret information._

_The experience in the Animus, the damn machine's name, proved to be rather unpleasing. The constant run over the memories of others begun to have it's effect by day four, where Desmond experienced hallucination and confusion. The symptoms aggravated as they went, bringing up memories of multiple people from different time-lines was messing with his brain. Each session seemed to be longer that the other and one person could only take so much of that punishment before going crazy. During one of his rare breaks, Desmond found out he was the seventeenth on a long line of test subjects that either perished or went mad over the machines abuse._

_By the end of week three, Doctor Death( how Desmond affectionately called Vidic. In his head, of course.) seemed utterly pleased with a small piece of information he squeezed out of Desmond's brain. The man was literally giggling as he waltzed his way out of Desmond's personal torture chamber and into a meeting room. Desmond climbed out of the Animus, he threw himself on his bed and fell asleep almost instantly. A few minutes latter he was awaken by the sound of gunshot. He jolted out of bed and was welcomed by the image of Lucy, supposedly Doctor Death's assistant, with a gun in hand and blood over her perfectly ironed shirt. He barely had time to 'what the fuck?' before being pulled by the arm and fed a huge amount of information his brain didn't managed to process correctly._

_Apparently, Lucy was an Assassin sent to monitor Abstergo's activity from the inside and feed The Order information. The "Pieces of Eden" that Doctor Death spoke of before, seemed to be pieces of ancient technology left by a society which "Came Before" used to control mankind. The Templars, the group behind Abstergo, were trying to gather these pieces and brainwash the whole planet to follow their command like cheeps. The Templars already were in possession of a few of there pieces and were working on finding the rest. That's where Desmond came in. In his little head, the map to this millenarian trinkets was waiting for the Templars to take. That was the reason why Warren was so happy. They had found the location of one of the pieces, one very special that would make finding the rest far easier. _

_The Order had been working on a way to get Desmond out of Templar reach from day one, but only managed to form a plan and execute it that very night. Now they where heading for a safe-house and then leave towards U.S.A's Assassin headquarters. They would meet a backup team in the temporary hideout which would help them get there safely._

It all felt unreal for Desmond, to say the least. He had ran away from the Order 9 years ago and now he is going back to it. _Willingly_. He still remember the times he had to drop everything he had built in one place to scape from them(both Templars and Assassins). The little training he had helped him on his escapades, but living as so many people, so many true Assassin, made him realize how pathetic his skills were. Though some of the experience from the older(and dead) assassins seemed to have rubbed on him. He now had the knowledge of multiple Assassin generations burned on his brain, altogether with some severe mental scars, but that was something to worry about latter. Now he reeeeealy need a snooze. Or maybe a 6 month coma would be more fit...

Desmond awoke a few hours later. For the first time in weeks, he managed to sleep consecutive hours(in Abstergo, he would constantly wake up in the middle of the night and take his sweet time to fall asleep again, due nightmares.). Stretching his back, he turned to Lucy who was still up, lightly turning the wheel when necessary. She had her head rested against one arm while using the other to drive. Every so often she would slowly blink and then, snap her eyes open. Sleep was starting to get the best of her. Desmond checked the time. They had been driving for almost 6 hours and, by the scenery around them, in the middle of nowhere. Probably the only ones in miles.

"Want me to take the wheel?" his sudden question almost scared Lucy, braking the hour-long silence.

"N-no!...I mean, you wouldn't know where to head. Besides, we are almost there." she answered, sitting up straight and fixing a few bangs of hair.

"Sure? You look beat."

"Way to make a girl feel special Desmond." she said laughing.

With that, they fell in silence again, only broken by Lucy asking for another cup of coffee. A few minutes latter, Lucy sped down and got off the road. The whole van begun to shake over the uneven ground. Small stones hit against the underpart of the car, due the wheels making effort to spin over the sandy surface. They followed that direction a while longer before Lucy stopped the car. Desmond followed her to what seem an empty desert plain. Lucy smiled at his confusion and approached...well, nothing.

"Where are you going?"

"Just watch." she reached for something in the floor and threw it up.

Suddenly it came clear to him. What Lucy grabbed in the floor was a sand-covered blanket that matched perfectly the environment's color. Under the cover, a metal door was located, with some sort of screen near it. Lucy slid her fingers over the screen and, with a final beep, the door opened. Lucy gestured a 'come' and jumped in the horizontal door. She disappeared in the dark pit, but the noise of feet hitting the floor proved the fall was short.

"How about the van?"

"We get it in latter, first lets meet with the others!" the tone in Lucy's voice sounded almost exited.

Desmond looked around. They were alone in the middle of the desert, it made sense not to worry about people spotting them. He took a deep breath and jumped in the dark pit. The floor came soon after, and he felt the sting on his muscles. He may have the Assassin knowledge, but surely didn't have the physical condition. Lucy stood a few meters away, near a small lamp in the celling. The light cast down on her barely did the job, revealing only half of her face in the dim lighting. The walked through a long corridor with the same poor lighting until a new door blocked their way. Lucy approached this door too and brought her face to another device near the door. Lasers where shot against her eye. A robot-like voice came soon after saying "Lucy Stillman, Master Assassin, Code 19BB2TI11M4N. Access Granted."

The door slid open but before coming in, Lucy turned to Desmond and hugged him.

"Wha...?"

"From now on Desmond, it's gonna be tough, but I'm glade we made it. So please, be strong okay?" whispered her as she squeezed a bit harder.

Desmond couldn't help but to hug back. It had been ages he had that kind of contact with anyone, woman or not. Lucy put let go and put her hands in his shoulders, looking him in the eyes and enterded the room.

"C'mon Desmond, lets meet the rest of the team."

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_**Piece by Piece**_

_**-Prologue-**_

_**Daring Scape**_

_**-End-**_

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A/N#1: How bad was it?  
A/N#2:There's a behind Lucy's...code. Try to figure it out!


	2. Chapter 1  Part 1

[EDIT] - This one was corrected too, let's hope I did it right...Definitely need a Beta.

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_**Piece by Piece**_

_**-Chapter 1-**_

_**part 1 - **__**Meeting the Team**_

Desmond followed Lucy through the door, which lead to a small, yet well equipped room. Two figures occupied said room, one being a short-haired woman wearing a headset and a man with glasses who was currently occupied reading a thick book. As soon as they set foot in the room, both quick glanced at them, acknowledging their presence. That's Assassin's awareness for you.

"Lucy! You made it!" the woman shot up from her seat, running to hug "Thank god you are here!I thought I was going to die of boredom!"

"Hi to you too Rebecca." Lucy greeted "Sorry for taking so long."

"Damn straight you are!" replied the Rebecca playfully "How long since we saw each other? 7 years! And you haven't changed a bit!"

Desmond felt extremely out of place just standing there in the background while they talked. He looked around the room, eyes falling on the other person. A glasses-wearing, auburn haired guy who was about his size, if not taller. The man looked bored, definitely not as exited as Rebecca. He marked the page he was on and set the book aside, approaching the girls.

"Why hello to you too Ms. Stillman, how kind of you to join us." the man spoke with a distinct British accent. The guy was British?

"Hello Shaun, I missed you too." Lucy stepped asside, so they could see Desmond. "This is Desmond Miles."

Desmond awkwardly waved to the duo. Shaun brought a hand to his goatee in an analyzing fashion "So this is our little Damsel-in-distress, I suppose?" He studied Desmodn for a second before speaking again "Well, he doesn't seem so bad."

"Excuse me?" Desmond rose an eyebrow as the man looked him from the head to his feet.

"Oh,lay off him Shaun." the Rebecca-girl rolled her eyes and approached him. "Hi I'm Rebecca Crane."said her introducing herself " And Mr. Sand-in-the-Vagina there is Shaun Hastings. You will get used to him. Hopefully."

"I'm quite capable of introducing myself Rebecca, thank you very much." For what Desmond took, those two seemed to always behave that way, since Lucy simply smiled to the scene before her. Desmond himself cracked a small smile. "It has been a heart-warming meeting, but headquarters want us back ASAP."

"What's with the hurry?" Lucy asked.

"They seem to be quite eager about the information you collected from Rapunzel over there..." He pointed at Desmond. "So we ere instructed to return as soon as you arrive."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Lucy reached for something in her back-pocket and gave it to Rebecca, whose eyes seemed to light up as she took the object. "This is a copy of the Memory-Core from Abstergo's Animus."

"Wicked!" she jumped like a child in Christmas Eve

"My, Rebecca. No one uses _wicked_ anymore." commented Shaun.

"Can it Shaun!"

"That neither."

"Okay you too, thats enough." said Lucy, instatly ceasing the argument. "How are we getting to New York anyways?"

"New York?" they all looked at Desmond.

"You don't eve know where Headquarters is?" asked Shaun in disbelief.

"I was really young when I left the order..."

"Tsk, no matter. We are taking a plane in Saint Louis straight to New York this afternoon. We already have the tickets, we just need to get there and make sure we are not spotted. Think you can do that?" He didn't really know the guy yet, but Desmond was already starting to dislike him.

"Leave the kid alone Shaun." Rebecca shout from where she talked to . "So Lucy, this is all the data right?What did you do with the original?"

"I erased all data connected to the Assassins and also, left a little gift for Doctor Warren." said Lucy with and uncharacteristic evil smile.

"What did you do?" Rebecca held the Memory-whatever tightly against her chest, like during a temse scene of a movie.

"Keep it in your pants Rebecca." Shaun's only answer was a "_shush!_" from the woman.

"I downloaded a deadly virus in Abstergo's mainframe. It should gradually erase all their database and prevent any information exchange with other machines, thus preventing them from restoring what they lose."

Rebecca begun to laugh and clap, being followed by a much more controled version from Shaun. Desmond was no TI expert but from what he understood, that was good news. Right? It seem so for making even Shaun clap. Lucy made a small bow, then turned to Desmond "So?Wanna rest before going?"

"Well,In fact..."

"No need to spoil the kid Lucy. We _are_ in a hurry." came another of Shaun's remarks.

"As I was saying...I think _you_ should get a rest. You have been driving all night long."

"I'm fine, I'll sleep in the van. Don't need to worry about me."

They all agreed in leaving immediately and packed the few things Shaun and Rebecca had brought. Going back through the dark corridor, Rebecca would stop every so often to check on the sensors and alarms along the way, making sure they were all active and working. That left Desmond with only Lucy and Shaun to interact with. Analyzing the British-man, he tried to figure out what made him act like such a douche all the time. Every time they stopped walking, Desmond looked back at Shaun. The man would shift between a pater of crossing his arms, fixing his glasses, tap his feet against the floor and making sarcastic comments at Rebecca's work, who would brush them off as an annoying fly. Yep, they definitely acted like that full time.

Desmond tried to start a conversation."So...you guys have been here for long?"

"Only since you were captured." said Rebecca "We have been conducting the operation from here. Let me tell you, being in the middle of nowhere, underground and nothing to do can do wonders to your humor."

"That explains Shaun's..."

"No it doesn't. He's like that full time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked said man in question.

"Look, the door!" Rebecca fastened her pace, reaching for a set of retractble stairs by the wall. Shaun chose to let it go.

Soon enough, they were all propely accommodated inside the van, Lucy and Rebecca in the back, while Shaun drove with Desmond in shotgun. Lucy had fallen asleep few minutes after the trip started, Rebecca was listening to something with a heavy beat(probably some popular music Desmond recognized from before he was kidnapped.) for she shook her heard every 0.5 seconds. In the front, it was even more silent since Shaun ignored every singe one of Desmond's attempts of conversation. Giving up, Desmond rested his head on the window, closing his eyes for a second.

Aparently, Desmond had fallen asleep two, because he awoke hours later with hsi head in a terrible angle and a killer pain in the neck. He twisted his head until feeling a satisfying crack and turned to Shaun, who still drove, now with the head rested in one arm and a bored expression in his face. Desmond tried to play nice again and spoke to him.

"Want me to drive?"

"No thank you Desmond, you would probably lose control of the car and kill us all."

Sadly, or not so much, Rebecca was too, fast asleep in the back and couldn't keep Shaun in check. Maybe he was being sensitive, but that little witty comment made Desmond's blood boil.

"Ok dude, whats your problem?" he tried to keep his voice low so it wouldn't disturb the girls' sleep, speaking in an high angry whisper.

"What's my problem, Desmond? _What's my problem_?" they were lucky the road was a straight line and empty for Shaun turned to stare at Desmond completely ignoring the fact he was driving a car. "I will tell you what's my problem, _dude_. My problem is the simple fact that your little runaway nearly cost us everything! Do you believe how hard is to keep something as big as the Assassin's Order secret? Do you know how many people could have died because of you? And the funniest part is that you didn't even tried to scape! What kind of Assassin are you?"

"I'm not an Assassin." was all Desmond said, looking away.

Shaun's explosion only brought up the thing Desmond managed to forget a little while ago. Maybe, no, Shaun _had_ all the right to be pissed at him. He deserved being treated that way. He could have singlehandedly jeopardized everything for the Order.

"Now that's something we agree on."

And than back to silence.

Desmond wasn't one to mope about stuff, even with all the shit he had taken in life, but those poison covered words flying from Shaun's mouth like arrow really hit . The worst part was, maybe it wasn't only Shaun who thought that. Maybe behind the hugs and smile Lucy thought that too, even Rebecca... The little paranoia worms were staring to bite their way through Desmond's brain and the feeling was terrible. Glancing at the horizon, Desmond took notice of their location. He already could see the tall buildings. The thought of being back on the city help distracting him from the cold and hard truth. He was finally back to his natural habitat.

"Hey girls, are you up?We are here." alerted Desmond turning to the backseat of the van and shaking both women awake.

"W-wha-?" asked Rebecca still fairly groggy.

"We are in Saint Louis."

"Finally!Can we get something to eat? I'm starving!" she cleaned the droll from the edge of her mouth and looked at Lucy expectant. "Lucy?"

"Well, I guess...We still got time?"

"We still have 3 hours before the plane leaves." answered Shaun looking for nearby fast-food chains.

"Then it's settled, where you guys want to go?"

"What about McDonald's?" suggested Desmond. "It has been ages since I had a BigMac."

"McDonald's,of couse. _Americans_." spat the British-man, making a face.

"We could get you a happy meal Shaun, maybe it would make you less crabby." offered Lucy stretching her sore back.

"Oh Lucy, you know the only thing that would make Shaun happy is a dick in his ass." said Rebecca between laughs.

That moment Shaun almost lost control of the van, glaring daggers at Rebecca through the mirror. Desmond took noticed of how crimson Shaun's skin had become, maybe from embarrassment, maybe from rage, but the heavy brush was there. This made Rebecca laugh even harder,thus pissing Shaun even more.

"Want me to turn the car back Rebecca?I would gladly leave you in the safe-house."

"And who would stop you prom biting the head out of poor Desmond?"

"How about Lucy?" asked the man in question.

"She would probably kill herself in 12 minutes of your bitching." answered Rebecca.

"Come on now Rebecca, you're going to make Shaun pop a vein." said Lucy checking her phone. No new messages.

"_Or several.._." whispered Shaun. "We are eating here or should I go to the drive through?"

"It would be best if we didn't stay in one place for too long, you never know..."

"My, look at this. Little Desmond is being responsible."

Desmond did his best to not take that personally, even though it felt like Shaun was constantly poking him with a rusty nail. He didn't grow any more comfortable with Shaun's abuse, as Rebecca said he would, neither was it helping with his guilt, but it only took one quick reproving look from Lucy to make him Stop. _For a while_.

"Would you please make up your mind? We haven't got all day!" The British-man had once again begun his blows over Desmond. They were mid-way through the drive-through percurse, near the micophone. Rebba and Lucy had already placed their orders and now they waithed for Desmond's.

"Okay, okay! I want a BigMac with large fries and a diet-coke."

"_Really_?"

"What now?"

"You are eating that radioactive bomb with a _diet-coke_? Seriously? Isn't that a bit of hypocrisy?"

"And what are _you_ eating?"

"A simple McCheddar with ice-tea." Rebecca could be heard saying "_teaholic!_" in the background. "Shut up or I'm ordering tuna sauce on you salad!" Rebecca suddenly fell silent.

They made their order with one of the cashiers and got their food a few meters away. When Desmond was about to have a gulp of his coke(not diet, thanks to Shaun) he felt a sudden pain in his forehead. Shaun had hit him before his lips had touched the straw.

"God dammit! What gives?" he shout.

Shaun didn't answered, he simply took the cup from his hads sucked a bit of the beverage and let a drop fall on the dashboard. Shaun slid his fingers over the small pool and then brought it to his mouth.

"It's not poisoned, have fun." He pushed the cup back to Desmond.

Looking back, everyone was checking their food for any specia surprise. Desmond looked back at Shaun as he pushed a few fries inside his mouth, Desdomd's fries, saying these aren't poisoned either, taking some more. That was a sudden change. Maybe the man wasn't so bad after all...

"Did you guys just shared a straw?" asked mischievously Rebecca from the back seat.

"Oh, grow up!" bit back Shaun, starting the car.

Throwing the trash from their meal, they followed to the airport. According to Shaun and Rebecca, They would leave the van with a local team and catch the plane towards New York. Desmond was really exited about the airplane trip. It would be the first time he would board an airplane in his entire life. As a runaway, he couldn't use that kind of transportation, for they required the documents he didn't , a pair of people waited for them near the airport entrance, as planned. Lucy handed out the keys for the van, calling one of the men "uncle" for scenic reasons, and they entered the building.

Shaun and Rebecca had their own baggage, while Lucy and Desmond were empty-handed. Desmond couldn't help but to miss the few thing he had before the whole Abstergo deal happened. His phone, his motorcycle, his second-hand Ipod...even his collection of hoddies he was so proud of. But now they were dust. The templars must have broke in his shitty apartment looking for him and trashed everything by now. His mind wandered to Lucy. She had a perfect, steady life while working in Abstergo, even if a fake one. Sure there were thing she had left behind. Great, now he felt bad about that too. He was dragged out of his thoughts when the group stopped moving. They already where by the gate, where Shaun handed over the tickets for the well-dressed woman in the counter. Desmond noticed that, as the pieces of paper were exchanged, both their ring-fingers where folded. That was the same gesture Lucy had used to reveal herself to Desmond...Good thing he never tried Airports before.

Going back to the merciless brainwashing and time-travels he was forced onto, Desmond remembered that the first Assassins from The Order cut their ring-fingers in the initiation ritual. Looking back now, it was kind of foolish since it would make recognizing an Assassin a simple task... Not that he questioned Assassin tradition, probably a recently initiated Assassin could kick his ass easily.

"Something wrong Desmond?" Noticing how silent he was Lucy approached him.

"Not afraid of flying are we?" Asked Shaun in his usual tone. _Sarcastic_.

"No, just thinking."

Shaun, turned away from him with a half smile."Good,some times is good to try new things."

"Ha-ha" Desmond chose to ignore the brit, even if he was being a unimaginable ass. Justice came soon enough as Rebecca pinched Shaun forearm, taking a chunk of hair in the prosses. Her answer was a whispered cascade of colorful swearing coming from Shaun's mouth as he tried not to shout.

"Behave you two! We are almost in the plane." said Lucy once again, commenting how they acted like 12 year old brother and sister.

Desmond smiled at the event. Ever since he escaped from The Farm, he hadn't made any friends and avoiding making bonds with people. Maybe it was just paranoia, but something told him they might having trouble if he grew to like anyone. All his social record was made of short interactions with strangers as he served their drinks and heard their drunk-talk. Now he didn't felt all that alone...

They boarded the plane with no further complications, aside for some arguments and some jokes at Shaun's expenses and soon the plane prepare to leave the airport. Desmond had already heard the speech the flight attendant always said on TV shows, but it was a whole different thin seeing it live, and kinda fun hearing it in different languages. In a few minutes, the plane took flight and Desmond felt like a child, staring as the city below grew smaller and smaller. He rested against the fluffy seat and felt conscience leave him again. Maybe now he was making up for the lost nights in Abstergo. He only hoped no strange dreams came this time.

_**Piece by Piece**_

_**-Chapter 1-**_

_**Meeting the Team**_

_**part 1 - End**_


	3. Chapter 1  Part 2

_**Piece by Piece**_

_**-Chapter 1-**_

_**part 2**_

_**Facing Judgment**_

"They call _this_ in-flight entertainment?"

Yet again Shaun had complained about USA's air transport quality. In those unusually long 2 hours, Shaun had managed to take jabs on possibly everything in that small metal carcass Americans called plane. The seats where hard, the food tasted like paper, the bathroom was the size of a broom closet, the flight attendant's took ages to come( maybe that had something to do with Shaun pressing the button every 5 minutes, although he denied it.) and the movie they had put to play was on of those, according to Shaun, tasteless romantic comedies made in America that only Americans themselves could enjoy. That was a lie though, for even Desmond was bored to death. Every so often he would ask if one of the girls would change seats with him. Rebecca's unceremonious "Hell no!' and Lucy's apologetic head shakes.

Soon enough, they were back on land, where Desmond had space enough to stay a safe distance from Shaun's bad mood. They waited for Rebecca and Shaun's baggage and them to the Airport's parking lot. There, an African-American man, Paul Bellamy as he introduced himself, awaited for them. Desmond, Rebecca and Shaun seat on the back while Lucy had a friendly talk with the driver, they seemed to know each other already. During the trip Rebecca poked Desmond's ribs, calling for his attention.

"Lucy didn't tell you the bad new yet, right?" Desmond only looked puzzled at her. "As soon as we arrive in headquarters, you are having an audition with the council so they can decide what they will do with you."

Desmond felt like the floor had been taken from under his feet. His brain begun to fuzz with a million possible scenarios. They ordering his execution, they locking him up in some dark, molding prison...

Shaun tsk'ed once more, taking his eyes of the window. "Clam down Desmond, if they really wanted you dead we wouldn't have bothered escorting you all the way here. If that was the case Lucy would have put a bullet between your eyes as soon as you were out of the building."

That made sense. Why saving him if they could just eliminate the threat in the spot?

"We are almost there." said Paul, getting in a tunel.

Inside, Paul took left where the road parted in two. The way took a new left turn but Paul didn't make any movement to change directions. As they were, the car would crash against the wall. No one around shown any sign of concern as the car gained speed. Desmond was about to shout when the car hit the wall. Desmond's hand jumped to the seatbelt, holding it tightly and bracing himself for the impact. But it never came...

After a few seconds he allowed himself to open his eyes. Everybody in the car looked at him, even Paul. Rebecca was futilely trying to hold the outburst of laughter that would soon come. Shaun seem mildly amused himself.

Shaun rose his hand towards Rebecca "Pay up."

Rebecca fished a bill of 20 in her jeans pocket and literally slapped it in Shaun's hand. "It was wort it."

"That's what you get for actually expecting something from Mr. Miles there."

Desmond didn't even mind Shaun's comment, he was far more interested in what had happened. The wall was there, he saw it, but now they where in some kind of diagonal tunnel going lower and lower. Red lights illuminated the large corridor and Desmond was actually surprised when another car coming in the opposite direction hoked for them. Paul hoked back with a smile in his face.

"Care to explain?"

"Hologram." replied Rebecca as if she was explaining why 2+2 was equal 4.

"Those things really exist?"

Shaun beat Rebecca to the answer."Desmond, there is a machine that can replay the lives of your ancestors before your and even allow you to interact with them. I think holograms are kinda overrated, agree?"

Desmond was about to give the brit a piece of his mind when Paul interrupted.

"We are here."

The car stopped and they got outside the vehicle. They begun to walk through an expansive parking lot filled with cars. None too flashy, not to call much of attention, and most of them were either black or gray. As they approached the door heading to the elevators a new voice came from the small speaker in the wall.

"Identification."

Each one said their names slowly and clearly. Desmond did the same once they were over. The door slowly opened repeating their names and codes.

"Identification complete, Paul Bellamy I97O83114MY, Lucy Stillman 19BB2TI11M4N, Rebecca Crane I9BACR4N3,Shaun Hastings I9BOH42T1N92, Guest temporary code:2." Hearing the voice Rebecca let out a snicker.

Desmond turned to the woman who bit her lips trying to keep them closed."What's so funny Rebecca?"

"You...you are number _two_!" she couldn't take it anymore. It came all at once and she held on the walls for support as laughter took the better of her.

Lucy tried to keep a straight face to scold Rebecca but she too begun to giggle with her friend. God, even Paul turned his face to hide the laughter.

"Quite*snicker*...quite fitting to tell the truth."added Shaun taking off his glasses to dry a few tears.

Desmond only watched as the group laugth their asses off. Well, Rebecca laughed her ass off, the rest were less hysterical."I'm starting to miss Abstergo."

Lucy stopped laughing almost instantly. "Don't even joke about that."

They managed to get to the elevators after a while. Paul pressed the button for a different elevator to come, saying he had other stuff to do. They bid their farewells and Paul was gone. Getting in the elevators, Lucy pressed the highest button in the panel, it being the "Ground Level" one. Desmond deduced the facility was built entirely underground. A typical elevator music played in the background as Desmond nervously tapped his foot against the floor. With every floor he grew more concerned of what would be made of him. The only thing that prevented him from imagining another terrible fate was Shaun's voice.

"Would you stop that? I tough we were over this already."

Desmond had no time to reply as the doors opened and they got out.

What came next was entirely unexpected. He had been think of how the Assassin's headquarters was like through most of the trip. Maybe some hi-tech, secret agency-like building(he blamed it on those MIB movies.), but the space around him looked much alike a College campus. Sets of corridors with windows revealing grass fields. Young people walking, or simply seated on the floor with friends, wearing gray hooded uniforms. Forget MIB, this place looked like Xavier's Mansion!

"Okay, good luck you guys." said Lucy taking her leave.

"Where are you going?"asked Shaun and Desmond at the same time.

"I have to fill some reports about the mission."

"Me too, I have to decode this baby!" followed Rebecca waving with the Memory core in hands.

It took Shaun long enough to realize. "W-wait a second, _I'm_ suppose to take Miles to the Grand Master?"

"Yes!Have fun!" shout Rebecca from the end of the corridor.

Shaun watched as they went, still trying to process all the information(or accept the fact he had been dumped with Desmond to take care of.) "What are you doing standing there? Let's go!"

Shaun didn't even turned back to see if he was following him. Shaun had nagged all he way to a large, decorated wooden door. They had walked deep inside the building, climbing down stairs and going though doors. There was no sunlight left, only elegant lights in the dark walls. Shaun was about to knock on the door when a "C_ome in_" came from behind it. Shaun opened it and literally pushed Desmond inside, murmuring a "good luck".

Desmond mentally cured Shaun to death and beyond as he stepped inside the room. It looked like it belonged to someone really important(well, _duh_!), the principal maybe? The deep voice came once again from someone seated on a expensive looking chair. The desk before the man was made of wood and equally dark to everything else in the room. Desmond ha d only noticed now but there was someone else in the room. A tall, man wearing a white version of the uniforms he had seen before stood in the shadows. His hood covered his face but Desmond could see he was staring at him him.

"Have a seat Mr. Miles." the deep voice offered. Desmond awkwardly pulled the chair before him and seated. "Do you know who I am?" Desmond shook his head. "Understandable. My name is Al Mualim. I'm the Grand Master of the American Assassin base and current leader of The Order, and this is my pupil Altaïr Ibn-La'Arad." the man just _hump_'ed at him. "Do not worry, you are not here to be punished." for some reason that didn't make him feel better. "I just have one question, Mr. Miles." The Grand Master laid back on his chair and linked his hands. "What do you want?"

It took a moment to Desmond understand the question. What? Was that a trick question or something? "Excuse me?"

"What do _you_ want Mr. Miles?" The man asked again. "You have see much of the world behind the veils of ignorance and lies we live under. The Templars, the Order, The pieces of Eden...What will you make of this knowledge Mr. Miles?"

Desmond had to actually ponder about it for a while. He hadn't really thought about the matter(he was far too worried if he would be alive to see the sunrise tomorrow...) since he escaped from Abstergo. Al Mualim waited patiently for Desmond to take his decision. Soon enough Desmond opened his mouth.

"I want to fight."

"Would you mind being more specific?"

"The thing I have see, what I have learned, the Templars plan...I know that before I ran away from my responsibility as an Assassin, but now that I know what is happening and what _might_ happen I can't sit in the sidelines as you fight this battle."

"Bottom line Desmond?"

"I want to come back."

The silence in the room was deafening. It was like his brain was so desperate in its anxiety that it begun to make up sounds, it was almost like hearing the senseless static from a television. Desmond could feel his clothes sticking to his skin and wetting his palms. His heartbeat rose to a insane insane pace as the Grand Master stared at him with calculating eyes...eye. Desmond realized the man was blind from one of them. Finally blinking, Al Mualim spoke again.

"Very well . You training begins immediately." Desmond's heard skipped a beat. "For today I advise you to rest, a room had been prepared for you in the facility. More information will be transmitted to you shortly about your classes and other activities, now Altaïr..." said man approached the desk. "escort Mr. Miles to his room, I'm sure he haven't had a chance to familiarize with the campus, neither his rooms location." The other man just nodded and paced towards the door. "I'm glad you made this decision Mr. Miles, your presence here might give us a fine advantage in this war." was Al Mualin's final statement.

Desmond rose from his seat and fallowed Altaïr exiting the room.

"A fine advantage indeed..."

* * *

Altaïr hadn't spoken a single word since they left the room. Fuck, even since Desmond spotted him in The Grand Master's room. He just walked in a mid-hurried pace, which Desmond had to hush to keep up with him. They crossed the grass field towards another building, supposedly the dorms, then climbed stairs after stairs, Desmond had counted 3 so far, and in the last one (literally the last, the building had no other floors) then turned with to an nearly empty hall.

"Your room is 1225, here is your key, further information will be delivered to you, there is a note for you inside with the answers for simple questions." Desmond turned to the direction Altaïr had pointed and when he was about to say thanks, he realized the man was gone.

Inserting the key and unlocking the door, Desmond entered inside the nearly empty room. The walls were white(Desmond was starting to hate that color...), devoid of any decoration. A door seemed to lead towards a bathroom to the right. As for furniture, a single bed stood lonely on the corner of the room. The sheets were, try and guess, withe. A closet, a night stand, a lamp,a desk and a chair where the only other things inside that pale, white box. Desmond was fighting the sudden urge of cutting his wrists and dying the walls red just to taint that plainness inside the room. psycho-suicidal tendencies aside, a sheet of paper over the desk caught his attention. It displayed a small map of the campus, essential locations(cafeteria, gym, training grounds...) and a schedule. Breakfast time, some blank spaces, Lunch, blank again, then dinner. Desmond thought he was supposed to fill the empty spaces with his classes he would latter have to attend. There was also a curfew, but it only applyed to Novices(?). Seeing if there was anything else in the paper, Desmond threw himself in the bed. It was quite comfortable, actually nothing like those cheap mattresses he used to have back in his apartment and they even smelt clean!That was really something to Desmond's standards.

He felt tired, emotionally that is. The very atmosphere inside the Grand Master's room was stressing. Little did it helped the fact that he had a larger, deadly looking man staring straight at him the whole time. He didn't even bothered getting up to close the curtains, he covered his eyes with the paper and drifted away into slumber.

Instinct brought him back a few hours latter. He literally jumped from the bed and reached for nothing in his belt, looking around for potential enemies. All he saw was tall red-headed man looking at him with some sort of wire in his hand and a look of something in between annoyance and disdain in his face.

"Did I startle you?" Something told Desmond he wasn't sorry at all. "Scared little kitty."

"Oh, shut up Shaun."

"My my, baby gets grumpy when he wakes up." Mocked Setting the wire aside and sitting over the desk. "Want me to get your pacifier now,or should I get your bottle first?"

Shaun was stopped mid-breath when a strong hand forced him by the neck against the wall. Desmond had moved in the blink of an eye, bringing his face centimeters from Shaun's. "I _said_ ."

Desmond could feel the blood pulsating though Shaun's jugular, struggling it's way towards the brain. Desmond was taking some kind of sadistic pleasure of seeing Shaun's skin grow redder and redder. His grip didn't relent and it was like he didn't have control over his muscles. He brought his body closer to Shaun's, positioning himself between the choking man's parted legs. His free hand when to Shaun's hip, for support. Desmond, still in an iron grip, turned Shaun's head and slid his nose over the exposed neck all the way to his ear, whispering again, now in much sweeter, almost gentle, tone. "_Muy bien..._"

Many things went through Shaun's mind that moment. First, _WHAT THE FUCK?_. Second, how on earth did Desmond manage to body-check him against the wall?, and third Did Desmond just speak Spanish? His head was starting to feel light with the lack of oxygen and he had to do something about it, fast. While that, Desmond's bittersweet caresses were getting more audacious. The hand in his hips slid slowly over his hipbone as Desmond whispered sweet nothings in Spanish to him.

"_Rojo te queda bien..._" said Desmond licking Shaun's ear painfully slow. Shaun let out a small moan of pleasure, making Desmond(?) smile. "_¿Te gusta?_" asked Desmond with a sly grin "_tú vas__ amar esto._"

It was when Desmond begun to suck on his earlobe when Shaun lost it. Any chance of that situation making sense had gone out of the window. Shaun was being molested by a Spanish rapist possessed Desmond while being choked to death by said person. Shaun put his last bits of consciousness in one strong head-butt on Desmond's forehead. This effectively pushed the other man away, losing his grip over Shaun's throat and making he shout "_¡Hijo de puta!_" at him . Shaun made a quick run for the door in case Desmond tried anything else but he heard nothing. Looking back, he realized Desmond looked just as confused as him, if not more.

Desmond's sudden lost of words made Shaun even angrier. "Figure how to connect the phone yourself you bloody wanker!" Shout Shaun, grabbing the door and throwing it close.

Desmond only stood there, dumbfounded. What the hell had happened? One minute he was having an argument with Shaun, the other he was raping said British-man against a desk! The whole time Desmond knew what was happening and wanted to stop, but it didn't make any sense to him. Why stop? He had _wanted_ to do this. The intention was there, the arousal for seen the man at his mercy, squirming and _enjoying_ it . It was like someone else's thoughts inside his brain. He felt every touch and meant every word...and Spanish? All the Spanish he knew was resumed to what he managed to understand in one of those Mexican soap operas(which he did not watched.). The icing on the cake was the fairly indiscreet tent on his pants. Desmond tried to suppress this masculine urges throwing himself on the bed, face-down over the pillow. That proved to be a terrible idea, since it only rubbed his erection on the bed, sending a wave of pleasure though his entire body. He actually shivered with the feeling. His hand mad its way atop his covered crotch. The only way out of this one was making justice with his own hands...

Locking the door, Desmond reflected the past events and what he was about to do. He closed the windows and let the lights off. He stripped himself from his hoodie and pants, remaining only in his boxers. The images replayed themselves in his mind. The warmth from Shaun's body, the smell and taste of his skin...He almost came from remembering that. His hand stopped. He hadn't had chance to perform that act in long time, he would make it last. After growing a bit flat, re resumed the stoking. He was back at the neck part, sliding his nose over Shaun's reddening skin, taking his ear between his lips and..._Ugh_!

"Fuck."

Desmond's body was shaking and his vision blurred. His head felt light and empty as he felt the overwhelming waves still run though his body. 3 weeks. 3 _fucking_ weeks. It was nice to fell alone for once, without cameras recording his every move. He was now both mentally and physically tired, sticky and sweaty. He needed a bath. Waiting for the dizziness to clear off, Desmond felt like just falling asleep. But the thought of someone knocking on his door looking after him served as motivation to get up from the bed. It was when the hot water was pouring over his head when he realized...

"Fuck, I masturbated thinking of _Shaun_..."

And then...

"Fuck, I'm _gay_!"

_**Piece by Piece**_

_**-Chapter 1-**_

_**part 2, Facing Judgment**_

_**-End-**_

* * *

_**A/N#1: :D**_

_**A/N#2: I guess that makes this story M, right? Tell me what do you think!**_


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